Suspended monorail system



R. W SHOEMAKER.

SUSPENDED MONORA'IL SYSTEM. I

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24,1918.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

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R. W. SHOEMAKER.

SUSPENDED MONORAIL SYSTEM. APPLICATION nuzo JUNE 24, I918.

1 ,355,801 Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

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SUSPENDED MONORALL SYSTEM. APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE 24,1918- i 1,355,801 Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

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turbed when the car UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD w. snoEMAKER, or SEATTLE, WASH NGTON, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL sus IPENDED MONORAIL COMPANY, A CORPORATION.

SUSPENDED MONORAIL SYSTEM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD W. Siren- MAKER, citizen of the United States, resldingat Seattle, in the county of Klng, State of VVashingtom have invented a new and useful which the following is specificationin such full andclear terms as will enable those skilled in the art to construct and use the same.

This invention relates to the car trucks of a monorail can-and to the general .construction of the system, and an object of the invention is to build a truck-which will distribute the load over a sufiicient length of car rail to reduce the unit cost of the struc-- ture for supporting the car.

' Another object of the invention is to so connect each individual truck with the car and with, the adjoining trucks as to provide sufficient hori'zontal'flexibility of the series of trucks as to' permit the car to travel without danger at high speed over sharp curves.

' Another object of the invention is to provide the trucks with a drivingjwheelso positioned with respect tothe leading wheels as to prevent the likelihood of the wheels leaving the track owing to the driving wheel climbing off, if not properly guided.

Another object of the invention is to suspend the carpso as to permit it to swing freely laterally when goingaround curves, so that the complications of the car construction will be reduced, and so that the passengers equilibrium will; not. be dis goes around sharp curves ata high speed. 7 J

A. further object of the invention is to produce a truck rail and driving wheels in which there will be comparatively no latoral rail friction since the wheels always hear perpendicularly upon the portion of the rail with which they contact regardless of the curve which the truck takes, thereby eliminating much noise and'wear. 1

To these ends the invention consists in the features of novelty that are. hereinafter described with reference to theaccompanyby a suitable number oftie bars 11.

ing drawings which are hereby made. a part ofthis soecificationand in which :"Figure 1 is side elevation of a single suspended car of a monorail system embodying the invention and viewed from' the .lower side of Fig. 2. 7

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof.

Suspended Monorail System, of

tively.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 12 1920. Application filed- June 24, 1918. .Serial llTo. 241,546.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one trucks on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 1s a plan View thereof.

of the Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section through the center of one of the trucks as indicated by the line 55, Fig. 4, looking v main frame and an intermediate portion of the driver frame.

' The drawingsshow but one car, 1, although a train of two ormoremaybe used and when two or more are made up in a train their meeting ends are preferably vestibuled,after the manner ofa Pullman car. The ends of the car are suspended, through the medium of hangers 2 and 3', from independent trucks 4 and 5, respec- Both trucks are precisely alike so that excepting where it becomes necessary to. refer to both of themthe following description will be confined to but one. For this purpose the truck 4 is selected. a This is the for.- ward truck, as the system is shownin the drawings and with the caratraveling in the direction of the arrow, albeit the. car is "equally capable of traveling ineither direction. When traveling in the direction opposite thatindicated by theflarrow, the truck 5 becomes the'fforwardtruck;

The truck has a ri id main frame 6 made up as follows: 7 and 8 are two stout rails or beamswhich are in effect channel irons although each is not. an integral entity. On the contrary each is made up of a flat plate 9 and two angle irons 10 which are firmly selcured along the longitudinal edges of the p ate. 1

These beams 7 and S are rigidly connected The intermediate portion 12 of each of these tie bars is horizontal while one of'its ends projects vertically upward as shown at 13 and firmly secured to the beam 7and its other end projects vertically downward as shown at 14 and is firmly secured to the beam 8 whereby the beams are rigidly connected. The intermediate horizontal por tion 12 of the central tie bar is of H shape as shown in Fig, 8, and the portion 15 which connects the legs of the H has a central perforation 16 for the passage of a pivot, "in '17 which passes also through a perforalion 18 formed through the horizontal arm 9 of the hanger 2. This hanger comprises h afo esaid horizontal arm 19 a vertical c tion 20 depending from the outer end "*eof and a secondhorizontalarm 21 proeting inward from the lower end of the wrtion 20 and secured to the car '1. By this ":eansthe entire rigid main frame 6 may turn in either direction relatively to the car ter the manner in which the truck of an ordinary railway car turns about the king pin in turning curvesf The rigid frame 6 frames 22 and 23 and each of these frames is supported in part by one of the drivers 241' and 25 and in part by two wheels 26 which are al-ikeand may be called pilot wheels (or rail finders) 'or trailers accordingly as they 7 happen to be at the forward or at the rear end of the truck.

7 :upon it are perforated for the passage of pivot pin 28' about which each of-the driver pivot pin 36 for a purpose that will appear presently. Near their inner ends the oppovThe frame 6 is supported by the frames 22 and 23 through the medium of the end tie bars 11, the horizontal portions 12 of which 7 rest upon bridge pieces 27 of 'H-shape, the

ends of the legs of which are firmly secured to the opposite sides of the frames 22 and 23. At their intersection the'bridge piece 27 and the horizontal portion '12 which rests nections but in addition they form guides between which the ournal boxes 33' for the journals 34 of thedrivers24 and 25 slide,

vertically. Cushioning springs 35 are arranged between the top sides of the journal boxes'a-n'd the top member 29.

'The outer ends of the top and bottom members come together, considered vertically and converge toward each. other ronsidered horizontally and are connected by a cross tie 36 perforated for the passage of a site top members of each of the driver frames 22 and 23 are connected by a cross; piece 37'. -These top members-29 of the frame 22 are continued inward beyond the cross piece 37, as shown at 38, and converge, their inner ends being united by a U-shaped piece 39 which forms a socket.

issupported by two' tirely immaterial;

' cause th eyfo vention.

The top members 29 of the frame 93 also are continued inward beyond thecross piece 37 as shown at 40 and theirinner' endsare united and carry a fitting having'a'cylindrical head 41 which occupies the socket 39 so that when one of the frames or 23 is moved about its pivot pin 28 in one direction the other of said frames will be moved about itspivotzpinin the opposite direction.

Each of the frames 22 and 23 carries" an electric motor i2 which motors are geared by belts -43 'or any other suitable mean'slto; I

the drivers 24'and 25, respectively.

" -There aretwo of the/wheels 26, each end of the truck, and as before stated those at the forward end,'as the car'is, for the time being, traveling, may be 'called pilot wheels, or they may be called rail finders while those at the rear end are hereinafter called trailers, but'this terminology ena:

? Each-of the several pairs: of wheels 26 is1 mounted ina frame 44 (Figs: 1 and 2) which is made up of two parallel beams -15 (Figs. 3 and 4) connected by a cross't efi 'which'lie'sdirectly beneath the cross tie 36,

and has a perforation 17 for the passage of the pivot pin 36 whereby the frame 4A is pivoted to the outer end of the corresponding driver frame thereby permitting the frames 44 to turnfreely in either direction'independently of the driver frames;

Risingfrom the endsof thebeams 45 are guides LS-"between which are mounted to slide, vertically, the journal boxes 49 of the journals 50 ofthewheels -26. Cushioning c springs 51] are arranged between the top,

sides'of the journal boxes and caps'52 secured to the tops of the guides 48". V

1 The rail is shown at 53. 'Its top side has a "groove the surf-ace'of which describes an arc ofa circle and the tread of the driver is formedon a similar are but it embraces a less number of degrees, as shown more clearly in' Fig. 7, so that the sides of the wheel do not have lateral frictional contact with the sides of the groove of the rail,

while the entire curved surfaceof the tread bears throughout upon the co'rrespondingly curved surface ofthe railwhether the wheel is in vertical or in inclined position. This obviates much noise and reduces the-friction to onlythat due to traction. v Therailis supported-by, a heavy beam or" stringer 54, which, in turn is supported by'suitable towers 55 the details ofthe construction of which are notushown' in the drawings berm no part of the presentin- The motors take their current from a feed j wire or rail 56 through the medium of a' brush 57"carriediby an arm 58fprojecting laterally from the upwardly extending vertical portion 13 of the central tie bar 11. It

will be understood that suitablyinsulated conductors] extend from the brush; to the controllenwhich is indicated by dotted lines at 59 and thence'to the motor;

It willbe observedthat but one driver is mounted in each driver frame and that the cylindrical fitting 41 occupying the U- shaped socket 39 permits the 'driver frames to rise and fall relatively to each other and to teeter upon' the driver; This-gives the truck great vertical flexibility and allows the driver to rise and fall in response to inequalities in the track. t

The distance between the pivot 36 at 'which point the load is transmitted from the driver frame to the frame 44:, and the pivot pin 28 at'which'point the main" frame bears upon the driver frame is greater than thedistance from the point last aforesaid and the point ofcontact-between the driver and track,'at which the point the weight put upon 'the main frame is sustained." This amounts to a difference in leverage which causes a greater proportion of the load to fall upon the drivers than upon the wheel preferably about as V 26, the difference being fifteen is to forty.

Being thusless heavily loaded, thewheels 26 respond more-readily to curvaturesin the track. In following curves the frame 44 at the forward vendof the truckis moved bodily laterally. 'This, acting through the pivot pin 36 'abou't which thejfranie=44 also turns, moves the forward end ofthe driverframe 22 laterally and thus turns the driver 21 to a plane approximately in line with the curve In doing this the driver frame 22 moves about, its pivot pin'27 and its inner end therefore moves 1n a dlIBOtlOIl opposlte 'that in which its outer end moves.

This, acting through the joint 39-41, willcause the. driver fra-me'23 to turn' in the direction opposite that in which the frame 22 was turned and this will shift the driver 25 and will movethe frame 4430f thetrailers46, laterally r The centrifugal force due to the turning of a curve will causefthe carrto swing 'outward, turning about the po nts ofcontact of i. the treadsof the wheelswith the rail. This will tip the wheelsand cause. their treads to leave the extreme bottom ofthe groove of the rail more or less and r de up the side thereof but will .not cause the treads to leave the rail at any .pointjsince they are formed on arcs ofa circle, of. the same radius as the'curved'surface .of the groove of the rail so. that the curved portions of the treads will bear throughout upon' the rail.

This eliminates all-lateral friction upon the wheels and maintains the maximum trac tional friction with the result that -much' noise and wear and tear are eliminated, v

This tipping of the car also has the result of bringing the aXesofall of the normally vertical pivots exactly in the load line so a rear frame; i

that they will turn freelyan'd'will not cramp or bind.

The' several wheels are unequally spaced apart; That is to say the wheels 26- of each pair are closer together than any other two wheels the inner wheel 26 of each pair and the adjacent driver 24: or 25, as-the case may be are farther apart than any other adjacent twowheels and the drivers 24 and 25 are an intermediate distance apart, F urthermore-the'drivers 2 l'25 are of greater diameter than the wheels 26.

What I claim as new is: a 1

1. Ina suspended railway, the combination of a single rail having in its topside a groove the surface 'ofwhich is formed on an arc and a truck having a plurality of wheels the treads of which occupysaid groove and:

areformed on an are but embrace a less number offdevrees than said groove, the end Wheels of the truck being smallerlthan the intermediate wheels and; differently loaded, a car, and a hanger suspending said car from the truck. a l 5: I "2 Ina suspended railway, the combination of a singlerail having in its topside a groove, and a truck having two separate frames, a single :wheel mounted inkeaclrof said frames and supportingiits inner end,

'smalle'r wheels at the outer ends'ofysaidu frames rcarryingja smaller load than the outer; wheels, said wheels having .tr'ead's' occupying'said groove, -a rigid-mainframe supported by the frames aforesaid, a car and a hanger by which the car is suspended from the main frame. I V i In a suspended railway, the combination ofa singlerail having a groove'in its top side and a truck having two separate,

relatively movable, frames, a single wheel supporting the inner end of such of said frames and the treads of which wheels run in said groove, smaller wheels at the. outer ends of'said frames carrying lighter loads than the larger wheels, a motor carried by 5'. Ina suspended railway,the combination of a single railhavingakgroove in its top side, and a truck havingtwo separate, relatively movable, frames, a single; wheel supporting the inner vend of each of said frames, a motor carried by each of said 1-10 each of said frames, gearing between said frames, gearing between: said motors and first aforesaid,

. 6.; In a suspendedrailway the combina: 7

tion; of a; single rail having a groove in its top side, a truck having'two separate, relatively movable frames, a. single wheel supporting. thelrear endof each of said frames the. treads; of. which wheels run in said g o ve, ama nfram pp t by n necting the vframesfirst; aforesaid, pivots eonnecting the framesfirst aforesaid and the mainframe, a jointvconnecting the inner ends of the frames first aforesaid andmeans -supporting.1- theouterends of said frames. -'7.,-Ii1 a :suspended. railway, the combination ofa singlerailhaving in itsv topside a groove, a truck, having two separate movable frames,fa, single wheel mounted .in each of saidframesandrthe treads of which run insaid' groove, and means separate 'from saidiframes for supporting their outer ends.

8. In a. suspended railway, the combinationvof a: single rail having in its top side a groove,a truck having two wheels the treads of which run insaid groove, separate frames 7 each supportedat its, inner end by one of said wheels, pilot wheels the treads of which run: in said groove, a frame supported by said pilot wheels and by whiehvthe forward en'dof the forward onerof the frames first aforesaid is supported, trailers the treads of whichjrun in said groove and a frame supported by saidstrailers and by which the rear end of therear one ofthe frames first aforesaid is supported.

H9. Ina suspendederailway', the 'combination of a single rail having'a groove in its top side, artruck having two wheels, the

treads of which run insaid' groove, separate frames. each supported: atrits inner end by oneof said wheels, pilotwheels the treads of which run in said groove," a frame sup ported by said pilot wheels and bywhich the forward end of the forwardone of the two frames first aforesaid-issupported. a

pivot pin connecting said 1 forward end with V the pilot wheel frame, trailers the treads of which'run in said groove, a frame supported by said; trailers and'by which therear end of the rear one of the frames first'aforesaid is supported, and a pivot pin c'onnectingsaid I rear end of the rear one ofthe frames first aforesaid and the trailer frame;

- 10.{In-a suspended "ra1lway,'the combination ofa'single rail having a groove in its top side, a truck having two drive wheels,

' the treads of 'which runinsaid groove,

' test-i891 sep rateframes hv s pp r at s i n endby one of said wheels,gmeansfortsup; porting s outer dta. m inv rame up: p rt d; by. h fr mes o e ai p o @011- neeting the mainframe and; the frames first aforesaid,,and;a; motor carried by each of h frames firsta oresaid and geared with the; corresponding driver;

11. In a, suspend (lrailway, the combina tion'of aisinglerailvhavinga groove inits topfside, a, truek jhaving-two wheels the treads of which run in said groove, sepa-' rate frames. each supported at i-tsinner end by one of saidwheels, a mainframe the ends of; which are supported bysaid frames,

respectively, ahanger depending from the centerof the main frame-end supporting the car, pilot wheels, a framesupported bysaid pilotwheelsv and in turn supporting the forwardend of the fOI'Wttl'di one off-the frames first aforesaid, the distance betweenjthe point of support of-themain frame and-the point of supportof the forward end of the forward one of the frames first aforesaid being greater than the distance between the 1 Point of pp of the main frame: and the pointrofgi contact of? this drive wheeli with he rail-n V V 7 i 12. In a suspendedrailway, the combinar tioIrof asinglegrooved rail, a truck'having' two large; drive wheels adapted to run" in said rail, other smaller; wheels,separate one of the-larger wheels, said'frames'being mounted upon :the separate frames, and a rarfconnected with thej latterframe the frames connecting the'gsmaller wheels and a vpivotall-yconnected f together, a jframe' wheels. being placed sopthat-the larger wheels bear a greater load than the smaller wheels. 1 V a I v 13; In a suspendedi -railway,thecombinationw-ith: a single grooved rail of apair of trucks.havinglarge-drivewheels and other 1 small wheels, means to-pivotally'connect the I frames, ,another frame mounted: on the pivotally connected; frames, and a car de-. pending from and: supported by the latter frame,tsaidtcar. having wheeled: trucks at caohien d thereofp 14. In a suspended railway, the combination with a single grooved railway of a pair of trucks, each truck comprising a pair of large wheels,'a plurality of :smaller wheel s, frames connecting the wheels and arranged to unequally loadsai'd wheels, pivotal connections between 'the front and rear frames of each set of'trucks, anda frame pivotal-1y mounted .1 upon the wheeled frames 'with ends of said'car. V v Iii-testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12thd'ayof June, A. D; 1918.

1 RICHARD w. SHOEMAKER.

'Ineansto connect'thecantherewith at both V 

